Middle East turmoil is redrawing global oil routes in Africa’s favour, sending more vessels around the Cape of Good Hope and strengthening the continent’s ports and maritime service centres, a shift now reinforced by Saudi crude tankers bound for India and China making U-turns in the Red Sea following Yemen’s Houthi warning.
The Xin Long Yang, Rodos and Amazon turned north towards Egypt’s Suez Canal on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, instead of continuing south past Yemen through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
The change places the vessels on a longer journey through the Mediterranean and around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope before reaching Asia.
The Iran-aligned Houthis warned shipping companies against loading or discharging cargo at Saudi Arabian ports, saying vessels involved in such operations risked being targeted “in any location”.
It also declared what it described as a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia, increasing pressure on a shipping corridor already affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
